Council and housing provider recognised for partnership in Surrey

Judged by tenants and experts from individual fields, the Affordable Housing Awards are designed not just to celebrate success, but to help other landlords learn and replicate it in their own communities.

Last September, Mount Green was appointed by the Council to oversee the management – including letting and maintaining – of the Council’s latest flagship affordable housing scheme.

In partnership with Neilcott Construction, the Council built Wheatley Court by regenerating a brownfield site in Redhill town centre. The scheme is the first council delivered scheme to be retained for affordable housing since RBBC underwent a large-Scale Voluntary Transfer of its housing stock in 2002.

All 32 one and two-bedroom flats in the four-storey block were made available for affordable rent and allocated to households on the council’s housing register to help meet local demand – including families previously living in temporary accommodation.

Wheatley Court is Mount Green’s first managing agreement. It is also the first time Reigate & Banstead Borough Council has developed new build flats for social housing and needed managing agents. The Council is historically a non-stock holding authority with no Housing Revenue Account.

On the shortlist announcement, Sarah Crabb, Assistant Director of Housing Services at Mount Green, said: “Managing Wheatley Court has been an exciting opportunity for our organisation, as it demonstrates how housing providers with a focused geographical footprint like Mount Green can work in partnership to enable more people to thrive and have a place to call home.

“Getting residents moved into Wheatley Court within such a tight timescale so seamlessly was a huge achievement for our team and only possible because of our close collaboration with Reigate & Banstead Borough Council.”

Councillor Caroline Neame, Executive Member for Housing and Support at Reigate & Banstead Borough Council, added: “Mount Green has been an excellent partner– we have been really impressed with its team. They have been incredibly collaborative and really proactive in terms of identifying any issues and working with us to resolve them, so we have good outcomes for our tenants.”

In addition to being shortlisted at this year’s Affordable Housing Awards, Wheatley Court was named the region’s Best Large Social Housing Development in the LABC Building Excellence Awards 2022.

Winners of this year’s awards will be announced on 17 November 2023